MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Given Buy Rating at DA Davidson

MP Materials (NYSE:MP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $82.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson’s price target points to a potential upside of 40.86% from the company’s current price.

MP has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MP stock traded up $1.26 on Wednesday, reaching $58.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,607,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,223,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.03 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 971,557 shares of company stock worth $61,630,802 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 420.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.